Field
The present invention relates to an apparatus and method for evaluating a semiconductor device which can easily accurately inspect the in-plane positions and temperatures of the distal end portions of a plurality of probes.
Description of the Related Art
Background
In a semiconductor wafer or chips obtained by cutting a semiconductor wafer into pieces, the electric characteristics of each semiconductor device serving as an object to be measured is evaluated. In this case, after an installation surface of the object to be measured is brought into contact with a surface of a chuck stage and fixed thereto by vacuum suction or the like, a probe to perform an electric input/output operation is brought into contact with an electrode formed on a part of a non-installation surface of the object to be measured. In inspection of a semiconductor device having a vertical structure which causes a large current to the device in a vertical direction (out-of-plane direction), a chuck stage serves as an electrode. From the past, the number of pins of a probe is increased to meet a request of application of a large current and a high voltage.
In evaluation of the electric characteristics of a semiconductor device, accurate contact of a plurality of probes to an electrodes formed on a surface of a semiconductor device is important. Misalignment of the distal end portion of a probe to be in contact with an electrode may prevent a desired current or voltage from being applied to a semiconductor device. In addition to this, contact of the probe to a portion except for the electrode may break the semiconductor device.
A short probe is desired to suppress the distal end portion of the probe from being misaligned. However, in order to suppress a discharge phenomenon, the probe tends to be elongated, and a distance between the main body of a probe guard and a semiconductor device tends to be increased. Thus, the distal end portion of the probe may be easily misaligned.
Under these circumstances, as a probe position measurement method, a contact-free method is known. For example, image processing measurement performed by a camera installed to face a probe is known. However, when the position of the distal end portion of a probe is to be measured, a plurality of disturbance factors such as a background or a distance, focusing on respective targets, and influences of attachments make it difficult to achieve accurate measurement.
For recent diversification of environments in which semiconductor devices are used, evaluation of electric characteristics in a wide temperature range from a low temperature to a high temperature is necessary. When a chuck stage located on the semiconductor device side is set at a low or high temperature, a temperature difference occurring between the chuck stage and a probe or a probe guard side causes thermal expansion or thermal contraction of the probe guard, and the distal end portion of the probe being in contact with the semiconductor device disadvantageously misaligned. Furthermore, when the probe is brought into contact with the semiconductor device while the temperature difference is kept, the temperature of the device is different from a set temperature to disadvantageously deteriorate the accuracy of the evaluation.
Methods of inspecting a probe position include a method which observes the position and size of a probe mark such that a probe is brought into contact with a deformable body and then separated from the deformable body (for example, see Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2001-189353) and a method of eliminating a needle mark of a needle mark transferring member (for example, see Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2009-198407) are disclosed. As a method of evaluating a semiconductor device when the temperature of the semiconductor device is variable, a method in which a heating sheet on which a resistor is disposed is installed on a probe card to heat a probe circuit board is disclosed (for example, Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2012-47503). A method in which a halogen lamp is caused to face a probe circuit board and to irradiate light on the probe circuit board when a chuck is retreated so as to heat the probe circuit board (for example, see Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2012-23120) is also disclosed. A method in which a ceramics heater disposed on a printed circuit board configuring a probe card heats a probe circuit board is also disclosed (for example, see Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2002-196017).
However, probe inspection according to Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2001-189353 requires a reproducing process for a deformable body in every probe inspection. In addition, observation after transferring disadvantageously requires a long inspection time. The probe inspection is hard to be added to a conventional evaluation apparatus. Also in the needle mark transferring member in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2009-198407, although it is described that the mark is recovered within a short period of time, a reproducing process is still required. Furthermore, observation after transferring disadvantageously requires a long inspection time.
Any of the Patent Documents does not describe temperature detection of the distal end portion of a probe being in contact with a semiconductor device. Since measurement by a temperature sensor installed in each apparatus targets the temperature of a probe circuit board, a temperature difference between the probe and the semiconductor device is unknown, and deterioration in evaluation accuracy caused by the temperature difference poses a problem.
Only expansion and contraction of a probe circuit board are problematically handled in terms of the in-plane position of the distal end portion of a probe being in contact with a semiconductor device. An initial positional defect of the probe occurring when a probe is installed on a probe circuit board and misalignment at a variable temperature cannot be checked immediately before evaluation of a semiconductor device.